Heart's a Mess
by JeanneD
Summary: Hazel Pierce loved Killian Jones more than words could describe. They were a dangerous pair who complimented one another in their differences and similarities. Now Killian has to find a way to reverse the curse the "crocodile" has placed on her mind after placing her in the curious land of Storybrooke.
1. Chapter 1

On the quant port of Fish's Lodge, all was as it had been. Widow Beverly was up bright and early to sell her delicious bread, little Meldon was out in the square looking to see which privileged merchants he could successfully pick-pocket, the drunkards could be heard all throughout the market from the bar that doubled as a "comfort" house, and Hazel was in the square, singing with her mandolin for some spare change.

It wasn't uncommon for pirates to pass through the town. They would usually pass through to stay at one of the town's notorious "comfort" houses while their ship was being repaired from their latest voyage out at sea. Hazel never had a strong opinion about pirates, mostly due to the fact that she had never really encountered one. Of course she'd heard stories of their ruthlessness and harsh ways, but that's all the were to her: stories. She had seen them strolling around the market place, but for the most part they seemed tolerable. They had never been confrontational before.

The decent crowd that had surrounded Hazel had grabbed the attention of others who were in the square. The crowd grew even larger when she stopped singing ballads and started playing something upbeat. She encouraged others to dance and sing along to the popular campfire songs she sang. Great fun ensued until dawn, when the town's people grew scarce, and the noises of the bar grew louder, and Hazel grew more tired.

She stood up from her stool to stretch her limbs and upon looking down she noticed Meldon. Hazel smiled upon seeing her small friend. With an exaggerated groan she crouched down to be eye-level with him. "I got yah summing, Hazel!" his high voice exclaimed with enthusiasm and excitement. With a sigh, she cupped his small face in her hand. "Meldon, I told you about stealing from people. It's not kind."

As pure as Meldon's intentions were, she wanted to teach him right from wrong. She understood how hard it must be for a child to live without a mother, having lost her own mother when she was just a babe. The boy's father was a kind man, who did his best by his son. Even though they were poor, Meldon was still well fed and cared for. He doesn't steal out of necessity. He steals for the thrill of it.

"I know," the boy said, "but I only steal from the wealthy. And it's always little things! I promise!" Hazel sighed before rolling her eyes and holding out her hand to him. "What did you get me?" she asks with a smirk. He grins wide and proud as he puts a tiny glass rose in her hand. It looks like something that has been broken off of a broach. Even though it is obviously old, having a small chip on one of the petals, she still feels flattered at having received the gift. "Thank you, kind sir! 'Tis a lovely broach," she says in a mock-posh voice. Meldon chuckles, causing her to do so as well. "I promise to keep it safe."

She stands and puts the rose deep in the pocket of her dress so that she wouldn't lose it. The way Meldon looks up at her makes her heart sing. He looks so proud that she liked her gift and she secretly thanks God for what a blessing this child is to her. Meldon wrinkles his nose as she lightly tousles his hair and tells him to run along to his father before it gets too dark out. The quiet of the square and the loudness of the bar makes her wary about him being out so late.

Hazel takes her time gathering her belongings. She places her mandolin in her deer skin bag, trying to make room by moving her canteen of water out of the way. A corruptive noise startles her and she looks up to see a fat, drunken man lying face down outside of the bar he had obviously just been removed from. It is at this moment that she becomes all too aware of the emptiness of the square. She hurriedly tries to gather her earnings from tonight before an unwanted heckler comes to bother her.

She had just finished garnering her things when the bearded man notices her. "Oye!" he calls out to her. "Yee the gerl who plays that thing weth those strings?," he asks, his words sounding too heavy for his jaw too handle. He stumbles toward her, approaching more quickly than she'd like. "Y-yes," she replies, timidly. "You've gotta pretty voice," he compliments darkly. He's so close now she can smell his thick stench. "I really should be going now," she says in an attempt to leave. She hardly moves before he grabs hold of her, making her drop her bags to the cobblestoned ground. She forcefully pushes him, causing him to briefly stumble backwards only to grab hold of her again. This time, she balls her hand into a fist, and strikes him square in his jaw with all her might. He stumble back once more, clutching his nose and gaping at her in surprise. "You bitch!" he yells roughly, raising an opened hand, intent on hitting her. Out of instinct, Hazel ducks her head to the side, covering her face and waiting for the impact to come. She opens one of her squinted eyes when the pain never comes.

She slowly turns her head to see that a handsome, tall man has grabbed ahold of the drunken pirate's arm, prohibiting him from hitting her. Piercing blue eyes, hair as dark as the night, a long, black leather jacket, and soft stubble almost made her forget her current predicament. "Bad form, striking a lady, mate," he spoke calmly, but darkly. A sinister warning. He pushed the drunkard away, causing him to trip on himself and fall. Before the violator could arise fully, Hazel's savior had unsheathed his sword and held it to the man's beard. "Run along. Wouldn't want to display your innards before her." With frightful eyes, the man scurried around the corner of an alley, out of sight.

"I'm hardly a lady," she says, trying to make light even though her quivering voice betrayed her. She was still shaken up. "You sure?" he questions, raising an eyebrow and flashing a smirk as he sheaths his blade, eyes on her. He takes her in. Olive colored skin, wild curly brown hair, timid posture. But what strikes him the most, are her eyes. One hazel, like her name would suggest, but the other was not. The other was green accentuated with flakes of gold. Curious thing, she was.

"I guess I should thank you, sir," she offers. "I'm hardly a 'sir'." She smirks. "You sure?," Hazel returns his quip. He chuckles and she smiles and then there's silence. Suddenly noticing her belongings scattered across the ground, she drops down to place her things back in her bag. She looks up and sees him helping her and nods gratefully.

"I didn't think pirates were in the business of offering aid to fair maidens."  
"Oh, I've unsheathed my blade for many 'fair maidens'."  
A wink on his part. A rolling of the eyes on hers, mostly done in an attempt to compensate for the blush rising to her cheeks.

As they stand, and Hazel struggles in an attempt to haul her bags over her shoulder, he quickly reaches in and takes them for her. "Oh, I could have-," she starts, but he gives her a look as if to say that she knows she needed assistance. She complies, knowing fair well that she did. "Am I allowed a name, _sir?,"_ she asks, making sure to draw out the "sir." He grins and obliges.

"Killian Jones, captain of the Jolly Roger. Or you may know me by my more famous title, Hook."  
She purses her lips, exaggerating an impressed expression.  
"And I don't suppose your 'title' has anything to do with your left hand," she jokes.  
"Sharp, you are," he jokes in return.

After him offering to walk her home, and her obliging his offer, she feels a lot more safe. She feels more secure. As Killian takes her to her door, she takes her bags and thanks him politely. Walking into her cabin, she smiles giddishly at the ceiling. Not quite all was as it had been in Fish's Lodge on this day.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been five days since their first meeting, and Hazel still thinks of him constantly. "Honestly, I think the idea you have of this man is more flattering than he deserves." Tanner keeps making witty remarks about her "experience" and she has been more annoyed than anything my them. Hazel and Tanner have been friends since birth, and have decided to lodge together until one of them could make due on their own. Their cabin isn't much, but it's comfortable and quiet roomy. They make due. Many have been known to gossip about how disgraceful it is for them to be living together, given that Tanner is a young man, but they can rest assured since their relationship has been and still remains completely platonic.

"Tanner, I've moved on, okay? Why don't you? This is starting to get obnoxious," she says as she readies her things for a day to shop in the market and square. Tanner holds up his hands in surrender and walks into his small bedroom. Hazel hasn't moved on. She finds it how completely odd it was that in her first experiences with pirates she had met the worst of them and the best of them. _A gentleman pirate. He's more of a gentleman than Tanner ever could be,_ she thinks to herself.

"Afternoon, Beverly!"  
"Well, you seem awfully chipper today, don't yah, dear!" Beverly exclaims, sounding surprised by her demeanor.  
"Well, I've had a good week."  
"It's a boy isn't it?"

Hazel's taken aback, surprised at how she could've guessed that, given her cryptic reason for being so happy. "Of course, it is," Widow Beverly mumbles to herself. "Make sure he's kind to you. Too many cruel men in the world. Don't want to end up with someone like my husband. Right bastard, he was." Hazel smiles at Beverly's bluntness accepting her usual loaf of bread from her, making sure to give her more shillings than the bread is worth. Beverly's told her to stop that, but she can't seem to help herself.

Walking out of the bakery, Hazel finds that Meldon was outside waiting for her. "Oh, well hello, little knight," she greats him warmly. Her polite expression turns in to one of suspicion when she sees the mischievous grin on his face. "What have you gotten yourself into now, huh?" she squints at him playfully. Suddenly, he sprints down the market, clutching his satchel, in which she suspects he's hiding whatever he's stolen. She breaks into a sprint and chases after him, her basket annoying her with it's jostling. The people of the market gasp as they try and move out of the way of the two hooligans who are acting out disruptively. She finds herself laughing wildly and laughs even harder when he does the name. "You can't catch me!" he mocks her. "Oh, just wait and see, little man!" she calls to him.

Upon seeing the trail that leads to his home in the woods and assuming that's where he was headed, she's surprised when he makes a hard turn down an alleyway. She catches on quickly, though, and makes an even sharper turn, colliding with a solid man, and dropping her basket. The man lets out a breathy "oof" as he instinctively grabs hold of her in order to steady himself as well as her. In turn, Hazel instinctively clutched the lapels of his jacket in order to keep herself from falling. He hardly seemed to lose his balance. "I'm so sorry, sir! I didn't see where I was going! I should've been more careful-." She goes silent when she notices that the man she now stands in front of is her savior from the other night. Killian. "Oh," is all she manages as she becomes all too aware of their "almost" embrace, with his hand having hold of her arm and her hands laying gently on his chest, their bodies pushed together as she is leaning into him from her nearly falling. She clears her throat and steps back, awkwardly smoothing out her dress.

"Maybe you should consider asking first before throwing yourself on top of me." Hazel rolls her eyes and bends down to pick up her toppled basket. "I haven't the time for questions I already know the answer to." _What? Did I say that?_ Her surprise at her own quip showed slightly and he chuckled at her with an adoring smile. "Um. Well, it was nice running into you again, literally." She begins to turn her back and walk when he hastily calls out to her. "Am I allowed your name?" he jokes. She smiles. "Hazel. Hazel Pierce." He offers his hand to her and she accepts, lightly placing her small hand in his strong one, as he slowly pulls it up it to his lips, keeping his eyes on hers. She stares at him with this pathetically embarrassed look. He smirks as he brings her hand down when he sees notices her red cheeks. "Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Miss Pierce." _God's be with me,_ she silently prays.

She just so happens to look down when she noticed something out of place. "Your hook?" she inquires, sounding slightly worried. "Aye," he sighs, "I was in the tavern cleaning it when I turned my head and it had disappeared." He holds up his left arm for observation as he explains. Hazel can't help but marvel at how intricate and beautiful the craftsmanship of his metal covering is. Tiny, spiraling, metal branches that all seem to end up pointing to the hole where his hook would otherwise be. _Who would ever steal something as useless as a hook? They're not worth much if anything at all. Petty, little thief, he must be._ Suddenly, Hazel's eyes widen with her discovery of the culprit's identity. "I know who has your hook."

Hazel knocks on the wooden door of a cosy cottage in the woods. Mr. Fray, opens the door in a matter of seconds, and instantly welcomes her. "Hello, sir. I was wondering if I could visit Meldon for a moment." She asks as she steps inside. "Oh, of course Hazel. My boy adores you so. I hope he hasn't been pestering you." Hazel offers a polite smile. "Never! Weldon is just a dear." After some more polite words, Hazel makes her way to Meldon's room, intent on taking back what he's stolen. As she steps inside, she sees him standing in the middle of his room, hands crossed in front of him, with an untrustworthy smile. "Meldon," she says accusingly. "Where did you put it?" Meldon wears a faux look of confusion. "Whatever could you mean, Hazel?" She slowly walks around his room, looking around for whatever he could've stolen. She looks at him as soon as he averted his eyes from the bed to look at her. Immediately, she quickly walks over to the bed and begins poking around at it. She lifts up the pillow. Nothing. She pulls up the sheets. Nothing. She looks under the bed. Nothing. Finally, with a grunt, she lifts up the heavy mattress and spots it. Killian's hook. "You're coming with me, little one."

"Would you like to meet your culprit?" Hazel puts her hand on top of Meldon's head, gently pushing him in front of Killian. "Apologize," Hazel says through gritted teeth, in a low warning voice. With a sigh, Meldon says his apologies and pouts afterward. "You move with impressive speed, lad." _Wait. Is he complimenting the boy who just stole his famous hook?_ "I had to. I could tell you really liked the thing." Killian nods his head in confirmation as he inserts the hook into it's slot, and twists it to lock it into place. "However," Killian says, "I can't have you stealing it again. So, if you promise to keep your hands to yourself, I promise I won't get you in trouble with her." She crosses her arms playfully. "Scary one, she is," Killian adds. Meldon laughs and Hazel flicks his ear, causing him to stop immediately.

After Meldon said his goodbyes to the two, Killian, once again, offered to walk Hazel home. "I take it that's only hook you have," she inquired. "Actually, I have plenty onboard. This just happens to be my favorite." More light conversation and pleasant topics are discussed as they make their way to her cottage. "It appears that I was the one who did a good deed today. Helping a pirate? I should be rewarded for my bravery," she says as they arrive at her door. "Indeed you should. Forcing a thief to return the stolen item first-hand was an act of justice unheard of by any pirate. I am forever in your debt." He bows exaggeratedly. "I'll remember that, pirate." Mustering up some small amount of courage, she stands on her toes and leans in to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Goodnight, Killian." He nods respectfully with an idiotic close-mouthed grin on his face as she walks inside her home.


End file.
